Demonetization: Modi, Manmohan and monumental failure

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday surprised political circles by mounting a scathing attack in Rajya Sabha on the NDA government’s demonetization of Rs.1000 and Rs.500 notes and thereby creating ripples in social media.

The brief speech by the former economist, who was instrumental in opening up the Indian economy as the finance minister, was to the point, sharp, loaded and full of quotable quotes.

“…the way this scheme (demonetization of high denomination notes) has been implemented is a monumental management failure, and in fact, it is a case of organised loot, legalised plunder of the common people,” he said in his speech. rated as the best attack by the Congress so far on the government’s move that has the whole country lined up in front of banks and ATMs.

This speech is considered as the best attack by the Congress so far on the government’s move that has lined up people in front of banks and ATMs across the country.

Here are some more samples of his sharp darts on demonetization aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi:

1. “…those who say that this measure will do harm or cause distress in the short term but be in the interests of the country in the long-run should be reminded of what John Keynes said once, ‘In the long run all of us are dead’.”

2. “Prime Minister (Modi) has said that we should wait for 50 days. Well 50 days is a short period. But for those who are poor and from the deprived sections of the society even 50 days torture can bring about disastrous effects. And that’s why about 60 to 65 people have lost their lives, maybe more.”

3. “I would like to know from the Prime Minister the name of any country he may think of where people have deposited their money in the banks but they are not allowed to withdraw their money. This alone, I think, is enough to condemn what has been done in the name of greater good of the people of the country.”

4. “It is no good that every day the banking system comes with modification of the rules, the conditions under which the people can withdraw money. That reflects very poorly on the Prime Minister’s office, on the Finance Minister’s office and on the Reserve Bank of India.”

Finance minister Arun Jaitley came to Modi’s defence taking a dig at Singh saying that those who did not consider generation of black money and scams during their time as blunder were finding faults with the NDA government’s crusade against black money.

Twitterati also reacted in various ways to the speech by Singh on demonetization– some praising his eloquent speech, while some other making fun of a “silent” PM speaking at last.

“OMG! Respected Manmohan Singh ji not only speaking in Rajya Sabha, but he even discussing the pblms of common man. Biggest achievement of Modi,” tweeted actor-turned BJP MP Paresh Rawal.